Leaning into the Unexpected: The vulnerability and willingness of anthropology and performance

When I tell people I study performance as an anthropology major at college, many consider the two an odd mix.

In Practice: Encounters Over 60 with Margaret Jenkins

Merián Soto, Photo by Bill Hebert In October and November 2019, I saw the work of three remarkable New York-based artists: Adia Whitaker, Miguel Gutierrez, and Tere O’Connor. Although O’Connor […]

In Conversation with Tonya Amos

In Conversation, a series of interviews exploring exchanges about dance and different folks’ relationship to dance.     Tonya Amos received a BA in Cultural Anthropology from U.C. Berkeley & […]

SPEAK: RECKONING: A decade of FRESH Festival and 20 years of ALTERNATIVA

Reckoning with time. There is something thrilling about a new year, a fresh start, the beginning of another cycle around the sun. There is also the reckoning it invites, to […]

Welcome

I am writing from a cozy living room in Los Altos, California, visiting with my husband’s family. A fire is burning in the fireplace, the sky is dark with storm […]

Walking Backwards

I love dancers. More than actually dancing or dance itself, I love dancers.

Dances Sung, Songs Moved: Fog Beast Serves it Up in The Big Reveal

I just want to infect you Crawl into your brain Sprout up out your head Into the sunlight that I need so bad It’s okay I’ll find my way Over […]

Finding the Fog Beast

My hairdresser is obsessed with tracking Mountain Lion sightings in the Santa Cruz mountains. She follows locals on instagram who live along the lion’s territorial maps and also the online […]

A Letter to Our Multi-Marginalized Disabled Dancers

My beloved disabled dancers,

I am gazing at the shadows of trees dancing upon
gravel walls as the golden hour sun joins in.
It’s beautiful isn’t it?

Healing the Immigrant Body with Performance

Photo by Robbie Sweeny During my 16 years as an undocumented artist, I was deeply disconnected from my body and from society at large. The heavy impact of my status […]